Background Screening Legal Compliance In The US – A Complete Guide

Compliance is one of the most important aspects of employee background checks in the US. Regardless of how good your background screening vendor is, if they don’t comply with all the laws and regulations you, as an employer, might be in serious trouble.

For example, did you know that:

There is a law in the US that enables background screening records to be preserved and referred to for a maximum duration of 7 years (in general) and 10 years in case of bankruptcies. Once this period is over, the record will not be valid and any adverse action taken based on such records will be illegal;

There are certain restrictions when it comes to screening information pertaining to issues of sex, race, disability, religion or age. For example; you cannot ask for background information from candidates of a specific race solely because they are from that race;

In California, you cannot request criminal record checks of the candidate before a job offer is made unless you are from an industry that makes contact with vulnerable population?

Generally speaking, most of the background screening vendors understand the importance of adhering to all the background screening compliance norms. They take all the necessary steps to ensure that all the state and federal laws are followed. But there are times when organizations, unintentionally violate state and/or federal laws due to the fact that they do not fully understand specific regulations.

Hundreds of cases have been filed against employers for alleged non-compliance in background screening. The most common non-compliance examples include: an employer’s failure to provide proper disclosure, authorization and follow the adverse process mandatory under FCRA guidelines. Apart from FCRA, there are various other compliance norms in the US that need to be followed by background check agencies. These include I9 compliance, FTC, state and city Ban the Box laws and the new EEOC guidelines.

In today’s ever changing and litigious environment, even the HR departments with the best intentions find it difficult to keep up with these laws and restrictions governing pre-employment practices, hiring and background screening. Employers and recruiters in organizations of all sizes are still unaware about the numerous regulations that govern pre-employment screening. They think that these regulations don’t apply to their specific situation. But understanding these laws and rules has become quite a prerequisite for conducting background checks.

In this guide, we have discussed all the relevant rules and laws governing pre-employment background screening process in detail. This will assist you and your organization in avoiding any legal trouble due to non-compliance of these laws while conducting background screening of your employees.

In this e-book we discuss:

List of compliance laws and acts applicable in the US;

Most prevalent background screening compliance laws and regulations followed in the US;

Recent developments in the background screening compliance norms in the US;

Importance of selecting a background screening vendor that is regulatory compliant.

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cFIRST Think Tank is the team that researches and produces content for cFirst. This team comprises of seasoned content and digital design professionals and background screening industry veterans. Together we produce insightful blogs, infographics and reports meant for HR and background screening professionals.